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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25796173">i'll jump up, i'll take flight (fall through the cloudline)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/problematiquefave/pseuds/problematiquefave'>problematiquefave</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AUgust 2020 [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Hospital, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Cancer, M/M, Minor James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, To Be Edited</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:42:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,011</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25796173</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/problematiquefave/pseuds/problematiquefave</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Superhero visits at Hogwart's Pediatric Oncology Ward are usually annoying. This one was disastrous.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sirius Black/Remus Lupin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AUgust 2020 [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859875</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>AUgust 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>i'll jump up, i'll take flight (fall through the cloudline)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this honestly has no editing because i'm still annoyed and displeased with how it turned out, but it's either sit on it or move on with AUgust_2020 and i'd rather do the latter. read at your own risk. maybe i'll return to fix it when i have more distance from it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rapping his knuckles against the door before he grabbed the handle, Remus plastered a cheery expression across his face as he entered room 107.</p>
<p>“Good morning, Mr. Potter,” he said. The young boy shot him a toothy grin, the skin around his green eyes wrinkling. “Did you sleep well?”</p>
<p>“Yes!” he chirped. He continued without prompting as Remus organized the implements for his morning check-up. “I dreamed of a snowy owl. Her name was Hedwig and she brought me a chocolate frog. The frog could move but it was made of solid chocolate!”</p>
<p>“Did you take a bite?” he asked, pressing the thermometer against the boy’s forehead.</p>
<p>“I didn’t want to at first because I thought it would hurt the frog, but Hedwig told me that the frog couldn’t feel anything and it was charmed to make it more fun to eat,” he answered. “The chocolate was really good but now I want real chocolate.”</p>
<p>Remus chuckled as the thermometer beeped, pulling it back so he could read the numbers. No fever. A relieving result after the week before when Harry had been so week with infection that he could barely raise his arm. If he’d cried at the nurse’s station on one of those mornings, well… No one said being a pediatric oncology nurse was easy.</p>
<p>“Sounds like you’ve got an appetite then,” he said as he set the thermometer down. “You know, I heard they’re serving waffles this morning – want to try one?”</p>
<p>Harry nodded vigorously.</p>
<p>“Nurse Daisy should be here with breakfast; we’ll get your teeth brushed in the meantime. Sound good?”</p>
<p>“Yup!”</p>
<p>Familiar with the routine, Harry held out his harms so Remus could help him out of bed. His pajamas bottoms had rolled up while he slept, revealing dark, purple bruises on his legs. A symptom of low platelet count. Harry was able to walk to the bathroom with Remus’ support and brush his own teeth. He turned away as the boy relieved himself and then helped him back to bed, briefly glancing up as Daisy pushed the door open.</p>
<p>“Are we feeling good this morning?” she asked cheerily. She had an energy he’d never managed to capture in his years of doing this.</p>
<p>“We are!” Harry responded. “Are there really waffles?</p>
<p>She nodded, picking up the tray as Remus lowered the table and raised the bed. The tray had waffles, mixed berries, and scrambled eggs with cheese. If that weren’t exciting enough, Daisy produced a small bottle of syrup and set it down with the plastic utensils. “Eat as much of it as you can,” she told him, too pleasant to sound stern.</p>
<p>“I will!” Harry said, picking up the bottle. When he couldn’t unscrew the cap, he handed it to Remus with pleading eyes.</p>
<p>“Thank Nurse Daisy first,” he said. As the boy turned to do so, he unscrewed the cap – for good measure, he also tore open the plastic wrapping around his utensils. Harry was already devouring his food before the door had closed behind Daisy.</p>
<p>Remus was tidying the room, listening with a half-smile as the boy nattered around mouthfuls of food. Ostensibly, he was keeping an eye on Harry to make sure he didn’t choke on his food, but he’d grown fond of the boy’s company. With a particularly aggressive form of acute myeloid leukemia, Harry had become a regular face in Hogwarts Children’s Hospital. The goal for any child was to see them never return – and all involved in his care were hopeful about this latest round, even with last week’s infection – but while he was, Remus was happy to spend time with him.</p>
<p>Harry was finishing off his berries when the door cracked open again. The dark circles beneath Lily’s eyes were the only sign that something was wrong; she was smiling, dressed in fresh clothes and with combed hair. While he was sympathetic towards parents who found it harder to put themselves together, he’d found that a child’s moral was improved by those he could.</p>
<p>“Mom!” the boy shouted. He opened his arms for his mother’s hug as James slipped in behind her.</p>
<p>“Morning,” he said, a sharp nod directed towards Remus. He sidled up beside the nurse as Lily cooed over her son. “Doctor been in this morning?</p>
<p>Remus shook his head. “No, but he’s doing good. No fever, strong appetite.”</p>
<p>James sucked in a shaky breath but Remus could see the relief in his side profile.</p>
<p>“You know,” he started, “we’re having a visitor today.” James’ eyes flicked to his face. “A superhero. Perhaps Harry would enjoy meeting him?”</p>
<p>“Oh… No, that’s alright.” Remus resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow at the grimace James tried to hide. “Wouldn’t want to wear him out.”</p>
<p>“Let me know if you change your mind.”</p>
<p>“That’s—Thanks.” His voice lacked any appreciation. “Could you see about the doctor?”</p>
<p>Remus nodded. He excused himself to the family, promising Harry as his face fell that he’d back been soon, and exited the room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Superhero visits were a mixed bag.</p>
<p>Most of the time, they were fine. The hospital required superheroes to be unaccompanied by photographers or publicists. Parents could take pictures although staff would ask them to wait on social media posts. Staff would keep an eye out to make sure they didn’t but if a picture or two slipped through the cracks, it wasn’t a big deal. Security could intercept fans at the front desk and supervillains generally knew better than to attack a ward full of sick children.</p>
<p><em>Generally</em>.</p>
<p>Gilderoy Lockhart’s enemies evidently hated him enough that they were willing to take the risk to their reputation. A part of Remus couldn’t blame them.</p>
<p>Startled by the noise, Remus was already getting up from his spot in the breakroom when one of his co-workers popped their head in. Their face was flushed and sweat dripped from their brow. “<em>Attack</em>,” he said hoarsely. “Patients need to get outside.”</p>
<p>His coworker took off before he could respond but there was nothing that needed to be said. He followed close behind, telling parents to follow the emergency exit signs and get their children out of the building. He stopped in his tracks at the closed door to room 107. Pushing it open, he spotted Harry alone on his bed with a confused expression.</p>
<p>“Are your parents still here?” he asked, shutting the door behind him.</p>
<p>“No,” the boy replied. “What’s going on?”</p>
<p>“A fight. Nothing much to worry about,” he assured, “but we need to get out of the building. I’ll help you.”</p>
<p>He reached Harry’s bedside just at the lights went out. The room shook around them; Remus grabbed the bed with one hand and Harry’s arm with the other. Through the windows, he could see a cloud of debris blossoming from further down the building. <em>Not good</em>.</p>
<p>Harry spotted the same thing. “Is it safe?” he asked.</p>
<p>Remus was wondering the same thing. If the fight damaged the building, would the elevators or the emergency stair well be safe? Was anywhere in the building safe? He’d seen countless images on the news of building like this one collapsing into a pile of dirt and concrete.</p>
<p>The room shook again.</p>
<p>“We should call my uncle.”</p>
<p>Remus’ brows furrowed at the boy. “Your uncle?”</p>
<p>Nodding, Harry was already reaching for the phone on the bedside table. He snatched it from his hands. “Why should we call him?”</p>
<p>Harry scowled at him. “He has a flying motorbike.”</p>
<p>A—what?</p>
<p>The idea of a flying motorbike seemed right at home with the story of the chocolate frog Harry had told him earlier. Yet he sighed, putting the phone back in the receiver and pulling his cellphone from his pocket. “Use this.” With the power out, the other phone wouldn’t work.</p>
<p>As Harry dialed his uncle’s number, Remus approached the windows. Craning his head, he could see a large hole in the side of the building – at the other end of the ward, he suspected. He couldn’t see Lockhart or his enemies, however.</p>
<p>“He’s coming!” Harry called, holding the phone close to his chest.</p>
<p>“How does you uncle have a flying motorbike?” Remus asked, heading back to the boy’s side.</p>
<p>“He’s an inventor,” said the boy, as if Remus was stupid for not knowing. “He used to make things to fight bad guys but he stopped when I was born because he was afraid I would get hurt. But he didn’t get rid of his stuff.”</p>
<p>Perhaps his disbelief was unwarranted; in a world where people could be born with the ability to turn invisible or gain supernatural abilities through the bite of a radioactive, a man making a motorbike with the ability to fly practically mundane. Hell, there were plenty of heroes and villains who primarily used gadgets in their work. But as someone who’s only connection to that world was through hospital meet and greets, he was skeptic.</p>
<p>To be a skeptic though, one must be able to admit to being wrong.</p>
<p>Like when he sees the flying motorbike in the distance – just as another loud boom rocks the room and Remus regrets not having gotten Harry out already.</p>
<p>The bike and rider approach the windows of Harry’s room. He can’t see the man’s face through his helmet, but he instinctually covers Harry right before the rider blasts open one of the windows. His heart jumps in his chest as the glass clatters against the ground.</p>
<p>“Sirius!”</p>
<p>“Put him in the sidecar! Before they see us!”</p>
<p>Remus scoops Harry up and carries him over to the bike. A motorbike parked in a fifth floor patient room is a sight he’s never seen before and doesn’t have the time to process. As he straps the boy in, Sirius slaps a helmet on his head. Remus jolts at a crashing sound; this one is closer than any of the previous ones.</p>
<p>Once Harry is strapped in, Sirius hisses, “Get on.”</p>
<p>“Me?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, hot stuff.” Remus can hear the grin in his voice. “I’m not leaving anyone behind. Don’t have a helmet though, sorry.”</p>
<p>Certain that a helmet wouldn’t save him from a multistory drop regardless, Remus crawls on the bike behind Sirius. He wraps his arms tight around the man’s sternum and shuts his eyes as the engine roars to life. As the bike takes off into the sky, he can hear an even loud crash behind him. He cranes his head back, stomach sinking as he sees the gaping hole in the floor they’d just been standing on. Through the windows of the room above, he can see Lockhart grappling with his enemies. He can also see that the other end of the building – where the main emergency staircase was located – had been half-demolished.</p>
<p>Sirius landed the bike a few blocks from the hospital. James and Lily rush the bikes, pulling Harry out of the sidecar with hitching sobs. James mouths a, “Thank you,” in his direction.</p>
<p>“Here.”</p>
<p>Having dismounted, Sirius held his hand out to help Remus. He took it, standing on trembling legs, and sucking in a shuddering breath. The air does little for the tightness in his chest.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Sirius said. Remus’ eyes snapped to his. “I owe you so much for staying with him.”</p>
<p>“Just my job.”</p>
<p>“I still owe you. And when I get back from helping out”—he pointed in the direction of the hospital—“we’re gonna talk about how I can you pay back.”</p>
<p> Remus nodded as Sirius slung his leg back over the bike, not trusting himself to speak. He blinked at the wave Sirius shot him as the engine roared to life, watching as the front wheel lifted off the ground and the rest of the bike follow. He turned to watch the bike speed off in the direction of the hospital, a small ‘oomph’ escaping him as Harry collided into his legs.</p>
<p>The watch on his wrist buzzed at him, signaling what would’ve been the end to his lunch shift. A thought popped into his head.</p>
<p>Sirius could buy him a late lunch.</p>
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